Maria Farrar’s paintings weave together classical themes of Eastern and Western visual language in supple, organic forms. Her light-hearted, dynamic scenes derive from everyday life or from fragments of memories, spanning the grand lakes of the Philippines to the shop windows lining the streets of London. Connecting the pictorial language of the Eastern manga and calligraphy with Western art history and oil pigments, Farrar’s acute sense of colour and dynamic compositions capture moments that are concrete and yet simultaneously elusive, fragments of a floating and expanding world.

Born in the Philippines and raised in Japan, Farrar received her BFA from the Ruskin School of Art in 2012 and her MFA from the Slade School of Art in 2016. Her solo exhibitions include ‘Too late to turn back now’ at Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore (2019), ‘Eaves Deep’ at mother’s tankstation, London (2018), ‘straits’ at mother’s tankstation, Dublin (2017), and ‘Marine’ at Supplement Gallery, London (2016). Her works are in the collection of Saatchi Gallery Collection (London) and AmC Collezione Coppola (Venice).

The artist in her studio
- Provenance
  Supplement Gallery, London
  Private Collection (acquired from the above in 2017)
  Christie's, Online, 28 July 2020, lot 3
  Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
- Exhibited
  London, Saatchi Gallery, Known Unknowns, 21 March – 9 September 2018, p. 58 (illustrated)

Property from an Important Asian Collection

Maria Farrar

Birthday

signed and dated 'Maria farrar 2016' on the reverse
oil on canvas
152.3 x 122.1 cm. (59 7/8 x 48 1/8 in.)
Painted in 2016

Estimate
HK$180,000 - 280,000
€21,900-34,100
$23,100-35,900

Sold for HK$403,200

Contact Specialist

Danielle So
Specialist, Head of Day Sale
+852 2318 2027
danielleso@phillips.com

Hong Kong Auction 21 June 2022